


The End of an Empire

by JenCforCarolina



Category: Destiny (Video Game)
Genre: Awoken OC, Exos, Gen, Titan Vanguard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2016-04-11
Packaged: 2018-06-01 16:45:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6528073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenCforCarolina/pseuds/JenCforCarolina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>And a wake of destruction swung out across the galaxy. </i><br/>The Awoken died, and their brothers and sisters felt it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The End of an Empire

**Author's Note:**

> [ Find it on Tumblr here.](http://jencforcarolina.tumblr.com/post/138755779703/the-end-of-an-empire)

Everything was normal.

Then the world fell apart.

It felt like a burning, her skin was instantly on fire. It was too sudden, too instant to react to. Her muscles froze midstep and she stumbled, falling to her knees. That was when the punches came, right in the gut, like her insides were being torn from her.

She screamed, and heard a million other screams with hers. Her ears rang and everything was black and featureless. Surreal lights spun behind her eyelids and she was falling, spiraling into somewhere dark and worse than death. There was a whisper there like something she used to know and even though there was nothing visible, nothing to identify where she was, she knew it was home. And something that felt like the Queen walked away.

The pain traveled up her spine and settled at the base of her skull, a dull throb of emptiness. She felt the world coming back but everything was heavy. She was on her back and could kick her legs but couldn’t move her arms. She tried to roll but there was definitely a restraint on her waist, her wrist, something around her head. She opened her eyes to four lights shining down on her, two green and two yellow.

“Iona. Are you with us?” More green light flickered and she realized it was her teammates, the two exos’ heads bent close together, touching, over hers. It was Kamon that spoke. “Are you okay?”

Her lips quivered and she wanted to appear strong but could not deny the truth. “No.” She whimpered.

His mouth set in a line but he nodded to Delah, something that was more a slight headbutt given the proximity of their skulls. “I think you can get off her now. She’s stopped moving around.”

The Warlock drifted backwards in her field of view, and the weights on her wrists and hips lifted. It had been Delah holding her down. She didn’t have the brainpower to comprehend the awkwardness of the position. Her head was still held in place, and as she rolled it around she felt fabric rustle beneath her. Kamon’s cloak, hastily folded, was what cushioned her skull from the patio. What felt like restraints were his hands, and they were more gentle now that he seemed confident she was in control again.

Delah was standing, surveying the plaza. “You aren’t alone.”

Iona tried to lift her head but was instantly dizzy, and let it back down. Kamon looped his arms under hers and pulled her higher into his lap. He draped one of her arms over his shoulder and slowly helped her to her feet. Across the way at the Vaults, two more Awoken were on their knees, being attended to by other Guardians.

“No.” Iona said. “We are. We are alone.”

Delah looped her arm under Iona’s other shoulder to help support her. “What do you mean you’re alone?”

“The Queen. She is gone.” Delah’s jaw unhinged a little, her pink throat lights flickering. “I have to find Zavala.”

“You’re still dizzy, you need to sit down somewhere.” Kamon cautioned.

“Zavala.” She insisted, hobbling forward until they were forced to come with her or let her go. They chose to come.

Shaxx was not at his post. They found him beside Ikora at the Vanguard table. She was asking him in hushed tones where he had felt it, what it had seemed like. She was prodding a position on the back of his neck, where he was pointing. Iona felt a shiver on her own spine, just from watching. Zavala was at his end of the table, hunched over with elbows on the glass, head almost touching steepled fingers.

“Commander,” She said. Using titles was a habit influenced by her time as a Corsair. “What do we do?”

The response was quiet, controlled. She found no trace of emotion in the words. “We wait for the news.”

A protest rose in her throat, but choked itself out when he looked up at her. There was grief written across the folds of his face, and pain knitting his brow. She swallowed. “And then?”

He pushed himself up, away from the table. Supported himself on spread fingers that curled a bit as if trying to bury into the table. “We will offer whatever services we can provide.”

The answer was satisfying in a small way, it was the logical thing to do.

She felt a bubble inside her though, another wave of grief as she remembered, processed. She felt herself sway into Delah’s strong arms.

“Get some rest, Titan.” Zavala said. “You can return to work when you are ready.”

“You will call me when you find who did it.” She said. “And I will kill them.”

Commander Zavala hung his head. “I will consider it. You won’t be the only one in line. Until then, rest is an order.”

She bit the inside of her mouth, below the lip, nothing that would show on the outside but enough to keep her from speaking further out of line. “Yes sir.” She finally said, and after a moment’s awkward pause, turned to go.

“So, rest?” Delah asked. “What do you want to do for that?”

Iona sighed. “Just leave me in the plaza I suppose. I’ll just watch the ships and the birds go by.”

“Alright. Plaza it is. Lovely day at least.” Kamon commented.

“Yes, it will be nice to just enjoy the sunshine.” Delah mused, putting a finger to Iona’s lips when she opened her mouth to protest. “Because sweetheart, please, we aren’t going anywhere without you.”

“But the Reef… someone has to-”

“As soon as the Vanguard clears it, we’ll go together.” Kamon interrupted. “Ghost’s already put in a request, Cadye has promised to tell me as soon as it’s authorized.”

“Th-thank you.” Iona stumbled, too grateful to think of anything else to say. Delah chucked and pecked her affectionately on the cheek.

“We’re teammates silly. Family. We’ll get through this together.”

“Thank you.” The Titan said again. “Thank you.”


End file.
